Better players, new approach, new characters. These things all need to be changed before we start seeing the improvements on the pitch. I know that nobody will be convinced by any argument now, but when people think about why Ole isn't under more pressure from within the club despite the inconsistency you have to ask yourself why that is. There are crazy conclusions reached on that subject that make little sense. 'Woodward wants a yes man', 'the Glazers are content with mediocrity as long as money is being made', or my favourite crackpot theory that 'they distract us with a club legend in charge so fans are comfortable with the lowering of standards'. None of these make any sense at all, no matter whose viewpoint you look at this from. There is not one single person within the club that doesn't benefit when we are successful, or anyone that doesn't suffer in some way when we are not.
So why stick with the manager? The Burnley loss was a low point. A really terrible night for the club, on the pitch and in the stands. What did the club do - sack the manager? No - they gave him 2 more players. Why on earth would they do that when there are so many other managerial options we could go after, in particular one that Woodward has already courted that is unemployed and presumably ready and willing to go right now? He wanted him once, he could have him now and yet he doesn't pull the trigger when so many fans would applaud him for it.
There is part of me that thinks that Woodward might pull the trigger if we don't reach the Champions League. He has form for this. Ultimately though I believe its unlikely. I think the squad that Mourinho left was in complete disarray. Rotten eggs, bad characters, in-fighting, cliques. You name it. If this is true then it explains a lot of things. Why we let so many players go in the summer even though we knew it would hurt us. Why we are reluctant to go after certain players who make demands that raise red flags. Why we are willing to persist with this manager.
Ole may not yet have proven himself to be a tactical mastermind, or even a manager who has every tool required for a club of our size. He may well never prove that. Logic suggests though that he could be exactly the right man for what the club needs right now. A cultural reboot. A unified squad of players that all want to play for us. The right leaders in a squad so desperate for them that we were compelled to lay out £80m for Harry Maguire - a £50m player with an £80m temperament. Ole didn't leave us short up front because he thought we would survive a gruelling season on rations. He did it because selling Lukaku was better for us than keeping him. We could have paid up for Dybala, but that goes against everything we were trying to do. The guy wanted a big payday to leave a club he didn't want to leave. Same with the midfield. He didn't decide that Lingard & Pereira were the answer to our prayers. He wanted Eriksen & Fernandes, but they either couldn't get the deal done on our terms or in Eriksen's case he wasn't desperate to come here.
Results will get better in time because this season is the worst of it. The squad have a much better feel about them now. We will now add more quality. Better characters. Leaders on and off the pitch. Ole has bought very well so far. Maguire is already club captain. AWB is a really solid defender that runs himself into the ground every single game. James gets kicked all over the place but gets back up and runs some more. Fernandes & Ighalo are both just starting but look like the right fit for what we need. Whether Ole is the right man for the whole project or not, he will definitely leave the next guy a much better starting point than he inherited.